English graded reader efl university students perspectives and practices within the context of reading fluency and reading comprehension m a 60 14 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES
WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF READING FLUENCY
AND READING COMPREHENSION
A thesis submitted to the
Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature
in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

By
HUYNH THI MY VAN

Supervised by
NGUYEN THU HUONG, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2016


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES
WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF READING FLUENCY
AND READING COMPREHENSION
A thesis submitted to the
Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

By
HUYNH THI MY VAN

Supervised by
NGUYEN THU HUONG, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2016
i


Acknowledgements
This thesis would have not been completed without the guidance,
encouragement, suggestions and assistance from many members.

First and foremost, I would like to send my deepest thanks to my supervisor,
Dr. Nguyen Thu Huong, who has supported me and guided me through the thesis,
and forgiven me for my occasional tardiness and lateness during the thesis. He has
always given me great encouragement, and thanks to that I was more determined to
complete my work.

Next, I would like to express my special thanks to my beloved colleagues who
gave me the valuable suggestions for the thesis, who took time to correct my
questionnaire and who frequently asked me about the progress of the thesis so that I
could feel a great sense of warmth and care which motivated me to fulfil the thesis
more.

I would also like to send my thanks to my students, who accompanied with
me during the thesis.

Last but not least, I would like send my special thanks to my husband and my
brother, who have encouraged me to complete my thesis.

ii


Statement of originality
I declare that the thesis entitled:

ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’
PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES IN THE CONTEXT OF
READING FLUENCY AND READING COMPREHENSION

is written by me, Huynh Thi My Van,
who takes full responsibility for the contents of the thesis.

I declare that the contents of this thesis are original
and that no other sources apart from those mentioned
in the thesis and its references have
been used to create it.

Ho Chi Minh City, July 2016

Huynh Thi My Van

iii


Retention and use of the thesis

I hereby state that I, Huynh Thi My Van, being the candidate for the degree of
Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention
and use of Master’s theses deposited in the library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in
the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance
with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or
reproduction of the thesis.

Ho Chi Minh City, July 2016

Huynh Thi My Van

iv


Table of contents
Title page .................................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... ii
Statement of originality ............................................................................................. iii
Retention and use of the thesis .................................................................................. iv
Table of contents ........................................................................................................ v
List of abbreviations ................................................................................................... x
List of tables .............................................................................................................. xi
List of figures........................................................................................................... xiii
Abstract .................................................................................................................... xiv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................... 1
1.1. Background to the study.................................................................................. 1
1.2. Aims of the study ............................................................................................ 3
1.3. Research questions .......................................................................................... 3

1.4. Research hypotheses ....................................................................................... 3
1.5. Significance of the study ................................................................................. 4
1.6. The organization of the thesis ......................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 6
2.1. A brief account of reading............................................................................... 6
2.1.1. Successful reading in English as first language ........................................... 6
2.1.2. Reading fluency ........................................................................................... 7
2.1.2.1. Components of reading fluency ................................................................ 7
2.1.2.2. Definitions of reading fluency .................................................................. 8
2.1.2.3. Oral reading fluency versus silent reading fluency................................. 10
2.1.3. Reading comprehension ............................................................................. 11
2.1.4. The role of reading fluency in fostering reading comprehension .............. 12
2.2. Teaching reading in the ESL and EFL context ............................................. 13
2.2.1. Intensive reading ........................................................................................ 13
2.2.1.1. Features of intensive reading .................................................................. 13

v


2.2.1.2. Reading strategies ................................................................................... 14
2.2.2. Extensive reading ....................................................................................... 14

2.2.2.1. Features of Extensive Reading ................................................................ 14
2.2.2.2. The role of Extensive Reading in fostering learners’ reading fluency ... 15
2.2.2.3. The impact of the amount of reading on learners’ reading fluency ........ 16
2.2.2.4. The role of strategy use in Extensive Reading in fostering reading fluency
and reading comprehension.................................................................................. 17
2.2.5. Graded Readers (GRs) ............................................................................... 18
2.2.5.1. Definitions of GRs .................................................................................. 18
2.2.5.2. Types of GRs........................................................................................... 19

2.2.5.3. Levels of GRs .......................................................................................... 20
2.2.5.4. Learners’ selection of GRs ...................................................................... 21
2.3. Relevant studies ............................................................................................ 21
2.3.1. Relevant studies on students’ attitudes towards GRs ................................ 21
2.3.2. Related studies on students’ practices of using GRs ................................. 23
2.3.3. Related studies on students’ perception of the effectiveness of
GRs . . .................................................................................................................... 23
2.3.4. Related studies on the impact of GRs on reading fluency and reading
comprehension ..................................................................................................... 26
2.3.5. Al-Homoud and Schmitt (2009)’s study .................................................... 29
2.4. Gaps from the studies reviewed .................................................................... 30
2.5. The conceptual framework of the study ........................................................ 32
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................... 34
3.1. Research setting ............................................................................................ 34
3.2. Participants of the study ................................................................................ 34
3.3. Research design ............................................................................................. 35
3.4. Research instruments .................................................................................... 36
3.4.1. The questionnaire ....................................................................................... 36
3.4.1.1. The content of the questionnaire on attitudes and perceptions ............... 37
3.4.1.2. The content of the questionnaire on practices ......................................... 39
vi


3.4.2. The reading fluency pretest and posttest .................................................... 40
3.4.3. The reading comprehension pretest and posttest ....................................... 40
3.5. Research procedure ....................................................................................... 42
3.5.1. Before the implementation of GRs ............................................................ 42
3.5.2. During the implementation of GRs ............................................................ 45
3.5.3. After the implementation of GRs ............................................................... 45
3.6. The scoring method of the reading rate and reading comprehension pretest and

posttest .................................................................................................................. 45
3.7. Data collection .............................................................................................. 46
3.8. Data analysis ................................................................................................. 46
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................. 48
4.1. Research question 1....................................................................................... 48
4.1.1. Students’ attitudes towards GRs ................................................................ 48
4.1.1.1. Enjoyment ............................................................................................... 48
4.1.1.2. Confidence .............................................................................................. 48
4.1.1.3. Students’ reactions to GRs in the future ................................................. 49
4.1.2. Students’ practices of using GRs ............................................................... 51
4.1.2.1. GRs selection strategies .......................................................................... 51
4.1.2.2. Pre-reading strategies .............................................................................. 52
4.1.2.3. While reading strategies .......................................................................... 53
4.1.2.4. Post-reading strategies ............................................................................ 55
4.2. Research question 2....................................................................................... 56
4.2.1. Statistical analysis of test results ................................................................ 57
4.2.1.1. Statistical analysis of test results on reading rate .................................... 57
4.2.1.2. Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension that followed
the reading rate test .............................................................................................. 57
4.2.1.3. Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension ................. 58
4.2.1.4. Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension of main ideas
........ ..................................................................................................................... 58
4.2.1.5. Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension of details . 58
4.2.2. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs ...................................... 59
vii


4.2.2.1. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
reading fluency ..................................................................................................... 59
4.2.2.2. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their

reading comprehension ........................................................................................ 60
4.2.2.3. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the follow-up activities in
improving their reading fluency and reading comprehension ............................. 62
4.2.2.4. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the amount of reading required
in improving their reading fluency and reading comprehension ......................... 62
4.2.2.5. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
reading skills ........................................................................................................ 63
4.2.2.6. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
vocabulary ............................................................................................................ 64
4.3. Discussion of the results................................................................................ 66
4.3.1. Research question 1.................................................................................... 66
4.3.1.1. Students’ attitudes towards GRs ............................................................. 66
4.3.1.2. Students’ practices of using GRs ............................................................ 67
4.3.1.2.1. Students’ GRs selection strategies ....................................................... 67
4.3.1.2.2. Students’ pre-reading strategies ........................................................... 68
4.3.1.2.3. Students’ while-reading strategies ....................................................... 68
4.3.1.2.4. Students’ post-reading strategies ......................................................... 69
4.3.2. Research question 2.................................................................................... 69
4.3.2.1. The impact of GRs on students’ reading fluency and reading
comprehension .................................................................................................... 69
4.3.2.2. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs ................................... 71
4.3.2.2.1. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
reading fluency ..................................................................................................... 71
4.3.2.2.2. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
comprehension ..................................................................................................... 72
4.3.2.2.3. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the follow-up activities in
improving their RF and RC .................................................................................. 73

viii

4.3.2.2.4. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the amount of reading in
improving their RF and RC .................................................................................. 73
4.3.2.2.5. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
vocabulary ............................................................................................................ 74
4.3.2.2.6. Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
reading ................................................................................................................. 75
4.4. Summary of key findings .............................................................................. 76
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................... 77
5.1. Conclusion..................................................................................................... 77
5.2. Implications of the study ............................................................................... 77
5.3. Limitations of the study ................................................................................ 79
5.4. Recommendations for further research ......................................................... 80
References ........................................................................................................... 81
Appendix 1: The English version of the questionnaire ....................................... 87
Appendix 2: The Vietnamese version of the questionnaire ................................ 92
Appendix 3: Al-Homoud and Schmitt’s questionnaire ....................................... 97
Appendix 4: The reading fluency pretest .......................................................... 106
Appendix 5: The reading fluency posttest ........................................................ 109
Appendix 6: The reading comprehension pretest ............................................. 111
Appendix 7: The reading comprehension posttest ............................................ 119
Appendix 8: IELTS Reading answer sheet ....................................................... 128
Appendix 9: Book report form .......................................................................... 129
Appendix 10: Sample quiz ................................................................................ 130
Appendix 11: Raw score conversion of the IELTS test .................................... 132

ix


List of abbreviations

IR

Intensive Reading

ER

Extensive Reading

GRs

Graded Readers

RF

Reading fluency

RC

Reading comprehension

FFL

Faculty of Foreign Languages

UTE

University of Technology and Education

CORI

Concept-oriented reading instruction

BNESC

Books for native English speaking children

AAO

Academic Affairs Office

RCFPre

Reading comprehension of reading fluency pretest

RCFPost

Reading comprehension of reading fluency posttest

RCMIPre

Reading comprehension of main idea pretest

RCMIPost

Reading comprehension of main idea posttest

RCDTPre

Reading comprehension of details pretest

RCDTPost

Reading comprehension of details posttest

x


List of tables
Table

Page

Table 2.1

Processes involved fluent reading comprehension ............................. 12

Table 2.2

A list of reading strategies .................................................................. 17

Table 2.3

Publishers’ headwords at each level of GRs ...................................... 20

Table 2.4

A summary of the reviewed studies on students’ attitudes, practices and
perception of Graded Readers ............................................................ 25

Table 2.5

Experimental studies on the impact of GRs on learners’ RF and RC 28

Table 3.1

A summary of the participants............................................................ 35

Table 3.2

The organization of the questionnaire and its related categories ....... 36

Table 3.3

A summary of the questionnaire on attitudes and perception ............ 39

Table 3.4

A summary of the questionnaire on practices .................................... 39

Table 3.5

The structure of the RC pretest ........................................................... 41

Table 3.6

The structure of the RC posttest ......................................................... 42

Table 3.7

Information about the chosen GRs ..................................................... 43

Table 4.1

Results on students’ enjoyment of reading GRs................................. 48

Table 4.2

Results on students’ confidence as a result of reading GRs ............... 49

Table 4.3

Results on students’ reactions to GRs in the future ............................ 50

Table 4.4

Results on students’ GRs selection strategies .................................... 51

Table 4.5

Results on students’ pre-reading strategies ........................................ 52

Table 4.6

Results on students’ while reading strategies ..................................... 53

Table 4.7

Results on students’ word attack strategies ........................................ 55

Table 4.8

Results on students’ post-reading strategies ....................................... 56

Table 4.9

Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-reading rate test ...................... 57

Table 4.10

Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-RC test that followed the reading
rate test ................................................................................................ 58

Table 4.11

Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-reading comprehension test ... 58

xi


Table 4.12

Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-reading comprehension of main
ideas .................................................................................................... 58

Table 4.13

Descriptive statistics of pre- and post-reading comprehension of details
............................................................................................................ 59

Table 4.14

Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their RF
............................................................................................................ 60

Table 4.15

Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their RC
............................................................................................................ 61

Table 4.16

Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the follow-up activities 62

Table 4.17

Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the amount of reading
required ............................................................................................... 63

Table 4.18

Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
reading skills ....................................................................................... 64

Table 4.19

Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their
vocabulary........................................................................................... 65

xii

List of figures
Figure

Page

Figure 2.1

The conceptual framework of the study ............................................. 33

Figure 4.1

Students’ GRs selection strategies ...................................................... 51

Figure 4.2

Students’ pre-reading strategies.......................................................... 52

Figure 4.3

Students’ while reading strategies ...................................................... 54

Figure 4.4

Students’ word attack strategies ......................................................... 55

Figure 4.5

Students’ post-reading strategies ........................................................ 56

xiii


ABSTRACT

Extensive Reading has been recognized for long as a means to improve
learners’ attitudes and perception towards reading, to develop their reading fluency
and reading comprehension and to improve their language skills. This study
investigated the attitudes and practices of 21 first-year English majors towards the
15-week application of Graded Readers. In addition, it also looked into the impact of
Graded Readers on students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension as well as
students’ perception of the effectiveness of Graded Readers in improving their
reading fluency, reading comprehension, reading skills and vocabulary.

This study adopted quantitative research method by which a questionnaire was
administered to probe into students’ attitudes, practices and perception of the
effectiveness of Graded Readers, and one-group pretest-posttest design was used to
discover students’ changes in their reading fluency and reading comprehension after
the application of Graded Readers.

The results indicated that (a) students showed positive attitudes towards
Graded Readers in terms of enjoyment and positive reactions to Graded Readers in
the future, but not in terms of confidence, (b) students employed a variety of
strategies when reading Graded Readers, some of which are not appropriate for
developing reading fluency, (c) Graded Readers improved students’ reading fluency,
but not reading comprehension, and (d) students showed positive perception of the
effectiveness of Graded Readers in improving their reading fluency, reading
comprehension, reading skills and vocabulary.

Several implications are drawn from the results of this study in terms of reading
instruction and guidelines for Extensive Reading practices.
xiv


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the study
Reading is an important skill to English learners. It is the most popular means
to acquire knowledge, not only knowledge of their subjects but also knowledge of the
world. In addition, it is also a source of entertainment. They can be hooked on an
interesting novel, or they can burst out laughing at a funny story. More importantly,
gaining competence in reading lays a solid foundation for later higher education.
Therefore, helping learners to become competent readers in English is one of the most
important objectives of every school, college and university.
Two common approaches to teaching and learning reading are Intensive
Reading (IR) and Extensive Reading (ER) (Nation, 2009). The former relates to
reading short authentic texts with a close examination of their language features such
as vocabulary and grammar in order to gain a detailed understanding. In addition,
with this approach, learners are also equipped with reading skills and strategies to
help them tackle reading texts. In contrast, the later refers to reading a large number
of texts within learners’ linguistic ability in terms of vocabulary and grammar in order
to foster their reading enjoyment, to gain a global understanding and to develop
reading fluency (RF). The materials used in this approach are often simplified texts,
or Graded Readers (GRs), which are written under a control of lexis and syntax to
facilitate reading fluency and reading comprehension.
At the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL), University of Technology and
Education (UTE), it seems that the later has been neglected for a while. Here, ER has
not been applied to any courses, and IR forms a major means of instruction in and
outside classroom. As perceived by the researcher, teaching and learning reading at

FFL is becoming a routine; that is, in each lesson, students read the same short
passage, learn unknown vocabulary and grammar, answer reading comprehension
questions and learn reading strategies. Moreover, reading instruction is also geared
to standardized tests since students are expected to pass a certain level in The

1


Common European Framework of Reference after each reading course. For example,
students at FFL are expected to pass level B1 after Reading 1 and Reading 2 courses,
and level B2 after Reading 3 and Reading 4 courses. It can be seen that under the
pressure of tests and exposure to repetitious procedure of IR, students are robbed of
the joy in reading, which later can lead to the decrease in their motivation and reading
engagement.
Another problem with students at FFL is slow reading. They keep moaning and
groaning about being unable to complete a reading test because of insufficient time
or too long passages, but the root cause is actually their slow reading. One possible
reason is the lack of instruction and practice for fluency development. RF, although
proved to play a critical role in reading comprehension (RC) (Laberge and Samuels,
1974; as cited in Pikulski & Richard, 2005), does not receive much attention here at
FFL. In other words, reading instruction only focuses on RC but ignores RF, an
important factor that facilitates RC.
Many researchers have established the close relationship between ER,
especially ER using GRs, and pleasure reading and fluency development. Day et al.
(2011) explained that ER gives learners a chance to read within their comfort zone
with very few encounters with unknown words or complicated structures, which
brings them a sense of joy like they are reading in their first language. In addition,
engaging in a large amount of ER increases learners’ sight vocabulary and their
vocabulary size which are two important factors building reading fluency (Day &
Bamford, 1998). In addition, reading extensively in English enhances learners’

knowledge of text types and widens their world knowledge, which assists them in
building RF and RC (Day & Bamford, 1998). Needless to say, ER is an effective
approach to fostering learners’ reading interest and improving their RF and RC.
Given the mentioned benefits of ER and lack of fluency instruction at FFL,
UTE, it is necessary to conduct a study that investigates FFL students’ attitudes and
perceptions of the effectiveness of ER in developing their RF and RC. In addition,
although the positive impact of ER on RF and RC is widely researched, there is a
paucity of studies that look into students’ practices of ER. It should be noted that
practices of ER affect RF and RC. Several researchers indicated that improper
2


practices of ER hamper reading fluency development. For example, Day and
Bamford (1998) pointed out that stopping to use a dictionary hinders fluent reading,
or Sakurai (2015) found a negative correlation between translation and reading speed.
It can be seen that investigating students’ practices of ER can help improve ER
guidelines so that students can take full advantage of ER.

1.2. Aims of the study
This study was aimed (1) to explore students’ attitudes towards Graded
Readers (GRs), the type of material used in ER, (2) to discover students’ practices of
using GRs that nurture and hinder the development of reading fluency and reading
comprehension, (3) to explore the impact of GRs on students’ reading fluency and
reading comprehension, and finally (4) to gain knowledge of students’ perception of
the effectiveness of GRs.

1.3. Research questions
This study attempts to answer the following two research questions:
1. What are students’ attitudes towards and practices of using Graded
Readers?

2. What is the impact of Graded Readers on students’ reading fluency and
reading comprehension, and their perception of the effectiveness of the
application of Graded Readers?

1.4. Research hypotheses
Based on the two research questions, three hypotheses were formulated.
1. Students have positive attitudes towards Graded Readers.
2. Students positively perceive the effectiveness of the application of Graded
Readers.
3. There is a significant improvement in students’ reading fluency and reading
comprehension after the application of Graded Readers.

3


1.5. Significance of the study
The application of GRs in the present study can be considered as the most
rigorous one at FFL, UTE. Before that, one teacher at FFL used GRs, but for the
purpose of improving pronunciation, not reading. Apart from him, no other teachers
have ever used GRs in any courses. Students in this study read GRs for credits. Their
work on GRs was marked and added up to other forms of assessment of the reading
course. In addition, they were provided with a large number of GRs of different
genres to cater for their reading interests. Their reading of GRs was also monitored
by weekly informal interviews, submission of book reports and doing quizzes. It can
be said that this study is locally significant in the sense that it is a pioneering work in
the field of ER at FFL, UTE.
Moreover, the results of this study will shed light on whether teachers and
curriculum designers that for long embrace IR persistently without recognizing the
importance and effectiveness of ER should make a fundamental change to their
reading instruction and reading syllabuses so that their learners can enjoy the benefits

of ER. In addition, the conduct of this study also awakens teachers and students to
the importance of RF. Although reading instruction attempts to boost students’ RC;
factors underlying RC, including RF, have not received as much attention. That
results in lack of RF instruction in most reading courses. When teachers are well
aware of the importance of RF, it is likely that this gap can be filled.

1.6. The organization of the thesis
This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction of the
background of the study and states the aims of the study, the research questions and
the research hypotheses. In addition, it also highlights the significance of the study.
Finally, it ends with a summary of the organization of the thesis. Chapter 2 starts with
a brief account of reading which focuses on reading fluency and reading
comprehension, followed by two approaches to teaching reading including IR and
ER, with a focus on ER. Then an overview of GRs is presented, which closes the
theoretical section of the chapter. Relevant studies are reviewed afterwards in relation
to students’ attitudes, practices and perception of the effectiveness of GRs, and the
4


impact of GRs on their RF and RC. Finally, the chapter identifies the gaps in the
reviewed studies and constructs the conceptual framework of the present study.
Chapter 3 gives a detailed account of the research method including research setting,
participants of the study, research design, research instruments, research procedures,
scoring methods, data collection and data analysis. Chapter 4 shows the results of the
study in relation to the two research questions. Based on the results, major discussions
are generated and presented. The chapter ends with a summary of key findings.
Chapter 5 wraps up the main points of the thesis in the conclusion section and states
the implications of the study. In addition, the limitations of this study are also
addressed, and the recommendations for further research are given.

5


CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter contributes to lay the theoretical foundation for the present study
by first giving a brief account of reading that examines the nature of reading fluency
(RF) and reading comprehension (RC) as well as the role of RF in fostering RC. Then
it presents two approaches to teaching reading in the ESL and EFL context which are
Intensive Reading (IR) and Extensive Reading (ER), with a focus on ER and its role
in fostering RF. In addition, the role of strategy use in ER in developing RF and RC
is also explained. Subsequently, the chapter provides basic information about Graded
Readers (GRs), the type of material used in ER, in terms of their definitions, types
and levels. Then the chapter proceeds with a review of related studies that looked into
learners’ attitudes, practices and perception of the effectiveness of GRs, and a review
of empirical studies that investigated the impact of GRs on RF and RC. Finally, the
gaps from the studies reviewed are identified, and the conceptual framework of the
present study is established.

2.1. A brief account of reading
2.1.1. Successful reading in English as first language
Research into reading has attempted to shed light on how reading works. There
is a widespread agreement among researchers that reading is a complex task that
generates multiple cognitive processes. Grabe (2009) pointed out two groups of
processes that play a critical role in building reading comprehension which are lowerlevel processes and higher-level processes. Below is a brief account of lower and
higher processes of reading provided by Grabe (2009).
Lower-level processes are processes that have the potential to operate
effortlessly without conscious awareness of readers. These processes include word
recognition, syntactic parsing (making use of grammatical information) and
semantic-proposition encoding (forming meaning units at phrase or clause level from

words and structures decoded). Word recognition processing includes other subprocesses such as orthographic processing, phonological processing, semantic and
6


syntactic processing and morphological processing. Being termed lower-level does
not mean that these processes are not important or less demanding, it is because they
are more likely to become automatic.
Working memory is an important concept in RC. It is the place where lower and
higher-level processes take place. However, it is known as a limited-capacity system
which cannot carry out multiple tasks at the same time. Therefore, in order for
comprehension to occur, lower-level processes must consume very few resources in
working memory, or even be done automatically, leaving most of the resources
devoting to comprehension. In other words, these lower processes have to proceed
fluently and effortlessly in working memory so that higher processes of
comprehension can take place.
Higher-level processes refer to the ability “to build a text model of reader
comprehension, a situation model of reader interpretation and a set of reading skills
and resources under the command of the executive control mechanism in working
memory.” (Grabe, 2009, p. 39). A text model of reader comprehension refers to the
ability of readers to understand what the text is about while the situation model of
reader interpretation emphasizes the combination of prior knowledge that readers
bring to the text with the text itself in creating his own understanding of the text.
It can be seen from the framework of cognitive processes of reading established
by Grabe (2009) that RC requires multiple processes. However, successful
comprehension occurs only when all lower-level processes are processed fluently and
automatically in the working memory, leaving the remaining resources in the working
memory devoting to comprehension. Therefore, the role of building fluency in lowerlevel processes is very important in enhancing RC. The next part will look into the
nature of RF and its major components.
2.1.2. Reading fluency
2.1.2.1. Components of reading fluency (RF)

As noted from the literature, most definitions of RF are built up from its central
components; therefore, it is plausible to explore major components of RF before
providing its definitions.

7


According to Grabe (2009), RF consists of four central components:
automaticity, accuracy, rate and prosody. Automaticity possesses four characteristics:
speed, effortlessness, autonomy, and absence of conscious awareness (Logan, 1997).
Accuracy refers to the precision in word recognition (Grabe, 2009). The fluent word
recognition must be not only fast and automatic but also complete and accurate. Rate,
the third component of RF, refers to the ability to read texts rapidly while at the same
time maintaining comprehension throughout the texts (Grabe, 2009). The final
component of RF, prosody, emphasizes the use of phrasing and expression during
oral reading. In oral reading, the fact that readers use appropriate volume, tone,
emphasis, and other elements in oral expressions proves that they are actively
building meaning from texts (Rasinki, 2004). In brief, there are four components that
make up RF, but the component of prosody just applies to oral RF, not silent RF.

2.1.2.2. Definitions of reading fluency
Many researchers have defined RF in relation to its four components. Pikulski
and Richard (2005) defined RF as follows:
Reading fluency refers to rapid, efficient, accurate word recognition skills that
permit a reader to construct the meaning of text. Fluency is also manifested in
accurate, rapid, expressive oral reading and is applied during, and makes
possible, silent reading comprehension. (p. 510)
This definition indicates that RF is a bridge to comprehension when the process of
word recognition becomes automatic and accurate. In addition, fluency can be
observed in oral reading when readers read texts accurately and rapidly with

expression. It is also an integral part of silent RC.
Kuhn, Schwanenflugel, Meisinger (2010) provided a very comprehensive
definition of RF which takes into account most of its major components.
Fluency combines accuracy, automaticity and oral reading prosody, which taken
together, facilitate the reader’s construction of meaning. It is demonstrated
during oral reading through ease of word recognition, appropriate pacing,
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phrasing and intonation. It is a factor in both oral and silent reading that can
limit or support comprehension. (p. 240)
This definition is similar to that of Pikulski and Richard (2005) in the way that it
emphasizes the role of components of RF in assisting meaning construction. In
addition, the definition also indicates that components of RF can exhibit clearly
through oral reading. Moreover, the impact of RF on comprehension is also
highlighted. However, the component of rate is not mentioned in the definition
although being able to read rapidly and maintain comprehension is an important
criteria of RF.
Several other authors viewed RF from the concept of eye fixation, which refers
to momentary pauses of the eyes on a line of print (Samuels, Rasinki, & Hiebert;
2011). Samuels, Rasinki, & Hiebert (2011) also suggested a definition of RF in
relation to eye fixation, which is the ability to “decode and comprehend during the
time span of a single eye fixation” (p. 40). They argued that fluent readers can perform
two tasks of decoding and comprehension within a single eye fixation while nonfluent readers perform the task of decoding in one fixation and the task of
comprehension in another fixation, resulting in more eye fixations. The more eye
fixations readers generate, the slower their reading becomes.
Nation (2009) did not give a specific definition of RF, but he described several
physical symptoms of a slow reader: “fixating on units smaller than a word (word
parts, letters, parts of letters), thus making several fixations per word; spending a long
time on each fixation or on some fixations; making many regressions to look back at

what has already been read” (p. 63). These symptoms reveal that slow readers tend to
decode at word or even sub-word level, which results in spending more time on
reading certain words. In addition, they are not able to retain information long enough
to interpret meaning of what is read; as a result, they end up looking back and
rereading the text in an attempt to interpret it again. It can be seen that problems with
eye fixation can slow down the reading process and make reading less fluent.
In brief, the definitions of RF are built around its central component including
automaticity, accuracy, rate and prosody. In addition, the generation of eye fixations
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while reading also affects fluency development. The definitions also indicate that RF
can be assessed in oral reading and silent reading. The next part will look into the
basic difference of oral reading and silent reading, and identify which type of fluency
is more appropriate to assess in the EFL context.

2.1.2.3. Oral reading fluency versus silent reading fluency
It can be seen that the definitions on RF above did not differentiate between oral
RF and silent RF. Kuhn et al. (2010) even stated that the literature on RF implies that
oral and silent reading are essentially the same process. However, one component of
RF, prosody, can only be observed in oral reading. If readers read a text silently, it is
impossible to perceive their intonation, stress, phrasing and expression. Nonetheless,
Rasinski (2012) argued that prosody is not an element solely for oral reading because
most adults he had surveyed reported that they also hear themselves when they read
silently. However, in case an observer is observing a reader reading silently, it is
impossible to assess prosody.
There are several criticisms of the use of oral RF to assess reading
comprehension of foreign language learners (FLLs). As Lems, Miller and Soro
(2010) pointed out, oral RF can be an effective measure of RC for native speakers;
however, it may not be applicable for FFLs. They argued that during oral reading,

FLLs are likely to make inherent pronunciation mistakes, which renders their reading
comprehension ability misinterpreted. For example, they may mispronounce a word
in English because their first language does not have an equivalent sound, although
they still understand that word. Therefore, using oral reading to assess RC may arrive
at an inaccurate evaluation of learners’ RC ability.
It should be noted that for adult English language learners, especially those who
are taught in the context that play downs supra-segmental features of language (stress
and intonation), it is more appropriate to assess silent RF than oral RF. First, adult
learners often read silently rather than orally, and their silent reading speed is faster
than the oral reading speed. Second, prosody, or stress and intonation, often receives
very little attention in instruction and practice in EFL context. Teaching

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